Miniatures 11

IN this occasional series I am going through my decisive games of 20 moves or fewer.

J Barrett (ungraded) - Spanton (151 BCF)

Barbican (London) Rapidplay 1989

Veresov

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bg5 Bf5 4.f3 Nc6!?

This is Dragon1's second choice, at least for a while, behind the commonest continuation 4...Nbd7, but the text is not liked by Stockfish17.

5.e3!?

The thematic 5.e4 is, perhaps surprisingly, less popular in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database, and scores nine percentage points lower.

5...e6 6.Bd3 Be7!?

Apparently a novelty, and still not in Mega25. Known moves are 6...Bxd3, 6...Bg6 and 6...h6!?

How should White respond?

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7.Nge2

The engines marginally prefer capturing on f5.

7...0-0 8.g4!? Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Rc8 10.0-0-0!?

Now both sides have castled, how would you assess the game?

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I think these positions are very hard to judge, and are very dependant on who understands the ideas better. For what it is worth, Stockfish17 gives Black a slight edge, but Dragon1 is less sure.

10...Nb4 11.Qd2 c5 12.h4 Qa5 13.a3?!

This creates a target. Probably better is 13.Kb1.

13...Nc6 14.h5?!

In opposite-side castling, one of the trickiest decisions can be knowing when to proceed with your attack and when to react to the opponent's threats. Here the engines much prefer the latter, in the shape of 14.Kb1.

14...b5

The engines reckon even stronger is the prophylactic 14...h6, preventing White from playing 15.h6.

15.dxc5?!

Probably better is 15.h6.

15...Bxc5??

This turns a winning position, according to the engines, into a losing one. Both 15...h6 and 15...b4 are much better.

16.Bxf6??

Returning the compliment. Instead, 16.h6 leaves Black without a good answer, eg 16...b4 (16...gxh7? 17.Bxf6) 17.hxg7 Kxg7 18.Qe1! etc, or 16...Bxa3!? 17.bxa3 Qxa3+ 18.Kb1 Qb4+ 19.Ka1 Qa3+ 20.Na2, or 16...Ne5 17.hxg7 Kxg7 18.Bxf6+ Kxf6 19.Nxd5+!

16...gxf6 17.Nd4 b4 18.axb4?

Better, but still losing, is 18.Na2 bxa3 19.b3.

18...Nxd4??

An inexplicable blunder. Every capture on b4 wins, but most straightforward is 18...Qa1+ 19.Nb1 Nxb4 20.c3 Na2+ 21.Kc2 Rb8 22.b3 Rfc8 etc.

19.bxa5 20.Nxf3 Qe2 1-0

LESSON: if you play like Black did in this game, consider taking up draughts.